11:49:48


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Bidding Information
Lot #    20565
Auction End Date    5/6/2008 10:26:00 AM (mm/dd/yyyy)
          
Title Information
Title (English)    Letter by R. Yitzhak Meir Levin
Title (Hebrew)    מכתב מה'ר יצחק מאיר לוין
Author    Yitzhak Meir Levin
City    Jerusalem
Publication Date    1948
          
Collection Information
Independent Item    This listing is an independent item not part of any collection
          
Description Information
Physical
Description
   2 pp., p.1 - 179:217 mm., p. 2 - 325:210 mm., typewritten on stationary, signed in ink.
          
Detailed
Description
   A letter from R. Yitzhak Meir Levin to the administrative leadership of Agudat Yisrael HaOlamit, where he presents a proposal of Mr. Ze'ev Zohar's and awaits the opinion of the leadership of the organization.

The proposal under discussion is the establishment of " a memorial and a name" to perpetuate the Jewish communities that were destroyed with an enterprise to be called Gal-Ed. The proposal called for a set of Encyclopedia of at least 25 volumes to cover the last millenium of Jewish history, and particularly the last 200 years to includes Hasidism, Mussar, and folklore of the Jews from all the countries of the diaspora, as well as the history of every community including its leaders, synagogues, cemetaries, institutions,etc. The means of gathering all this information is to be done by centers in all countries with major Jewish populations, with the main center in Israel.

The last piece of the proposal is for a central archive depository to gather and maintain manuscripts, books, documents, etc. that have a historic value for the Jewish communities that have been destroyed.

          
Paragraph 2    R. Yitzhak-Meir Levin (1893-1971) was an ultra-orthodox Jewish Polish and Israeli politician, an Israeli government minister and a former leader of Agudat Israel. He was one of 37 people to sign the Israeli declaration of independence.

Ze'ev Zoher (Fisher-Shein) (1905-1993), born in Góra Kalwaria in the Russian Empire (today in Poland), Levin studied at yeshivas, before being certified as a rabbi. A founder of Agudat Israel in Poland, he was elected to Warsaw Community Council as a representative of the organisation in 1924, and five years later was elected to the World Agudat Israel presidium. In 1937 he was elected as one of the two co-chairmen of the organisation's executive committee, and in 1940 became the sole chairman. He was also involved in founding the Beit Yaakov school system for religious girls. Between 1937 and 1939 he was a member of the Sejm, the Polish parliament, representing Agudat Israel. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Levin helped refugees in Warsaw, before immigrating to Mandate Palestine in 1940, where he became head of the local branch of Agudat Israel. After signing the Israeli declaration of independence in 1948, Levin joined David Ben-Gurion's provisional government as Minister of Welfare. He was elected to the first Knesset in 1949 as a member of the United Religious Front, an alliance of the four major religious parties, and was reappointed to his ministerial role in the first and second governments. After retaining his seat in the 1951 elections Levin rejoined Ben-Gurion's government as Minister of Welfare, but resigned in 1952 in protest at the National Service Law for Women. He remained a member of the Knesset (twice for the Religious Torah Front, an alliance of Agudat Israel and its Workers branch) until his death in 1971, but never returned to the cabinet.

          
Reference
Description
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhak-Meir_Levin
        
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Listing Classification
Period
20th Century:    Checked
  
Location
Israel:    Checked
  
Subject
History:    Checked
  
Characteristic
Language:    Hebrew
  
Manuscript Type
Letters:    Checked
  
Kind of Judaica